Strange New World
by Medie
Summary: Sequel to "The Arrival" Jonathan & Martha find themselves with a problem - teaching Jor-El, Lara & Kal-El just how to live on Earth.


Title: Strange New World  
Author: M. Edison   
Archive: Please ask first.   
Season: Season1 SV  
Category: Alternate Universe  
Rating: PG   
Spoilers: None really. Vague ones for the premiere but can they be considered spoilers anymore?  
Keywords: AU, Jor-El, Lara, Kal-El, Jonathan, Martha, Clark, Chloe  
Disclaimer: Smallville, Superman, etc...all not mine. SV Incarnation is Miller & Gough's baby. I don't own any of the  
characters in this story.  
Summary: The continuation of the story of Jor-El, Lara, & their son Kal-El's new life on Earth.   
"Strange New World"  
by M.  
------  
Smoke from the impact crater wafted around Jonathan's face and he batted at it in irritation, his gaze on the large ship  
before him. "We can't leave this here." He said finally, completely overwhelmed by the absurdity of the situation. He had   
absolutely no idea if 'Jor-El' could even understand English much less speak it but they still had to communicate if they   
were to successfully get the ship out of there.  
  
He gestured to the vessel, trying to communicate to the alien his idea with actions as much as words. "We need to move it.  
Hide it."  
  
Jor-El's brow furrowed as he looked from the ship to the human. "Hide." He repeated, the alien language strange on his  
tongue. He thought back to the material on Earth he'd reviewed before they'd left Krypton. The data had been sketchy at   
best. Very little of the languages of Earth had been available. "Hide."  
  
"Yes, hide." Jonathan agreed. He looked back at the ruins of his own truck. Even if it had been undamaged, it never would  
have been able to carry a load that heavy. They needed something else. "We need to find a way to move it."  
  
"Move."  
  
He grinned, it was obvious the other man was highly intelligent and the language barrier was clearly frustrating him. It   
was readily apparent in his voice. They had to find a way to circumvent the problem and fast. If anyone happened by and   
saw the ship....there'd be serious problems.  
  
Behind him, he heard Chloe giggle again and an idea occurred to him. Quickly, he turned to where Lara and Martha waited   
with the children, also trying to communicate and having little success.  
  
Jonathan held out his arms to his daughter. "C'mere sweetheart, Daddy needs your help."  
  
Chloe's eyes lit up and she practically leapt from her mother's embrace into her father's. If she was nothing else, Chloe  
Kent was Daddy's girl. Wrapping her little arms about his neck, she pressed her cheek against his in a quick hug.  
  
Crouching down, aware the other adults were watching with interest, Jonathan set Chloe on her feet. "Ok, Chlo', let's play  
a game. We need to teach Kal-El's daddy what some words mean, okay?"  
  
She nodded vigorously. "K!" Reaching out, she twined her fingers with the little boy's and waited. "What ones?"  
  
"We'll start with hide.' Jonathan carefully enunciated the word, watching Jor-El out of the corner of his eye.  
  
Realizing what the human was trying to do, the scientist knelt before his son and explained what Jonathan and his child   
were attempting.  
  
Kal-El listened with rapt interest then, much as his new friend had done moments earlier, nodded hard.  
  
Chloe tugged on his hand, drawing him to her side, smiling brightly. "C'mon!"  
  
Unsure of what she was trying to tell him, the young Kryptonian let her lead him behind the ship. There, she gestured.   
"Dis is hide." Quickly pulling him out into view of their parents, she added. "Not hide."  
  
For emphasis, she repeated the process. "Hide...Not hide."  
  
With the practicality only a child can manage, Kal-El looked the situation over, thought about it, grinned brightly and  
raced back to his father, chattering in excitement. Chloe was hot on his heels, beaming with pride at her apparent   
success.  
  
"It work, Daddy?"  
  
Jonathan lifted her up into his arms, watching them. "I think so, sweetheart, we'll see in a minute."  
  
Lara moved closer to her husband, lifting Kal-El up into her arms, the three of them conversed quickly in Kryptonian and   
then, finally, Jor-El looked up and nodded. "Hide."  
  
Jonathan and Martha shared a look and a smile while Chloe rested her head on her father's shoulder. "It's not much," He   
decided with a faint smile, "but some progress is better than none."  
  
"How are we going to move that thing?" His wife worried, brushing a hand over Chloe's curls. "The truck isn't going   
anywhere."  
  
"I know." He said with a heavy sigh, passing their daughter to her. "I'll go look for help...something big enough to   
carry that thing."  
  
It took some time to communicate his intentions to Jor-El but the alien was a quick study and it was easier the second  
time around. Which was a relief to them all but Jor-El most of all. Jonathan had the sense he was not a man who was   
accustomed to failure.  
  
Starting off across the field, he glanced back to see Jor-El attending to the ship while Lara, Martha, and the children  
settled down to wait.  
  
The farther he went, the more the impact of what had happened weighed on him. So much devastation and loss weighed heavy   
on him. If the land was so crippled then he could only imagine what the people would be like.  
  
The death toll...If the meteors had struck the town....  
  
Whether they had or not, Smallville would never be the same.  
  
A short bark of laughter disturbed the eerie silence around him as he thought of Smallville's newest inhabitants...  
  
Never the same indeed.  
  
-----------  
  
Spreading the blanket out, Martha sat down, drawing Chloe onto her lap. "Jonathan will be back soon." She assured Lara as  
she helped her daughter into her coat. The odds were the other woman understood very little if any of what she was saying  
but Martha knew they had to learn English and they had to learn it fast. Their lives could literally depend on it if the   
wrong person encountered them.  
  
She gently pulled Chloe's curls out from beneath the little girl's collar and addressed her daughter. "Think we should try  
to teach Lara and Kal-El some new words?"  
  
Her daughter's face lit up and she grabbed her backpack. "Yah! Books!"  
  
Martha smiled, hugging her for her resourcefulness. Of course books were the perfect way to go. And Chloe's especially.   
English in its simplest form. "Wonderful idea, baby." She took the book Chloe chose and held it up for Lara's examination.  
"This, Lara, is a book."  
----------  
  
After finding an abandoned truck, Jonathan parked it as close as he could to the crash site and trudged across the uneven   
ground. He had absolutely no idea how they were going to move the ship. It was small, he supposed, for a spaceship but it   
was big enough to make him wonder. It had to be anything but light. Moving it was not going to be easy, not unless Jor-El   
could fold it up in and put it in his pocket.  
  
"If he even *has* pockets."  
  
Jonathan found Jor-El sitting beside his wife and their son, listening with interest as Kal-El - aided by Chloe and Martha  
- stumbled through one of Chloe's favorite Curious George books.  
  
The young boy was showing surprising aptitude and Jonathan didn't even try to hide the fact he was impressed. "He learns   
fast."  
  
Martha looked up, her eyes shining with excitement. "I can't believe it! We started reading an ABC book, explaining the   
letters, and the next thing we know, he's translating them for his parents. He's really quite remarkable!" She lightly   
touched Kal-El's cheek and smiled warmly at him. "Did you find a truck?"  
  
"I did." He nodded, neglecting to mention that while he hadn't found a body, there'd been blood in the truck. And, while   
he wasn't sure, he thought he knew the truck's owners. It was the last thing Martha needed in all this. Better she focus   
on their newfound friends than old ones they'd lost. "But, how we'll move that ship I don't know."  
  
Kal-El's head perked up as he recognized some of what Jonathan had said and he looked up at his father, talking quickly.   
  
Jor-El smiled in response, rumpling his son's hair, and produced a small silver device from within his clothing. He held   
it up for Jonathan to see then entered something into it.  
  
The ship came alive, floating into the air.  
  
As it began moving toward the truck, Chloe very neatly summed it up with childlike glee.  
  
"Wow!"  
  
--------  
  
If Jonathan Kent had ever been in a more surreal situation, he could not remember it. Three aliens and their ship were   
hidden underneath a tarp in the back of the truck, a billionaire and his injured son were crammed into the cab with   
himself, Martha, and their daughter racing for town because of a meteor shower that had left the countryside in ruins. To   
add to the mayhem, Chloe was trying to sooth the young Mr. Luthor with a very mangled version of 'Mary Had A Little Lamb'   
and, stranger still, the barely conscious boy seemed to be relaxing, eased by the little girl's lilting voice.  
  
He shook his head, reflexively looking over his shoulder at the tarp - mentally apologizing to his guests - as if to   
reassure himself it was still in place. They looked human enough but between their clothing, their mannerisms, and their   
scant understanding of English...too many questions would be raised. Lionel Luthor was not a stupid man and were his   
interest peaked...  
  
Jonathan's mind shied away from the consequences.  
  
They hadn't known their new friends long but there was no way in hell Jonathan Kent was going to throw them to the   
wolves...especially not the biggest wolf of them all. The man sitting not a foot away.  
  
TBC 


End file.
